A jury hung on the most serious charges against the man accused of orchestrating the homicide of Brandon Charles in Ypsilanti Township last year, his attorney said.

Willie Wimberly, 31, was convicted on counts of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury hung on counts of open murder, premeditated first degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and witness intimidation, said Lillian Diallo, his attorney.

It’s a stunning defeat for prosecutors, who had spent more than a year alleging first that Wimberly shot and killed Charles, 28, on Jan. 29, 2013, in the 600 block of Calder Avenue and then alleging he planned the shooting and sent Terrance Parker, Avantis Parker and Lawrence Mathews to kill him.

Wimberly was convicted in the Jan. 1, 2013, shooting of Charles and his fiance on Interstate 94 in Detroit. He will serve 40 to 60 years in prison for that conviction.

Diallo declined to comment on the jury’s decision. She said a retrial is likely on the murder charges.

“I would be shocked and surprised if they didn’t (have a retrial),” she said.

The decision came just before noon on Wednesday, Diallo said. It was the second major decision to go against Washtenaw County prosecutors in two days: On Tuesday, the jury deciding the fate of Terrance Parker found him not guilty on all counts.

Terrance Parker was accused of being the person who actually shot and killed Charles while he sat in his fiance’s white Ford Fusion in front of a friend’s home. His jury found him not guilty on charges of open murder, premeditated first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, carrying a concealed weapon and witness intimidation.

Avantis Parker, whose testimony was key to the prosecution’s case, is the only person convicted for a role in the homicide. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges and will serve between 12 and 15-and-a-half years in prison.

Avantis Parker was given the deal in exchange for truthful testimony in the case. During the final days of the trial, Avantis Parker’s credibility was the subject of both Diallo and Byron Nolen, Terrance Parker’s attorney, closing statements.

Diallo called him a liar and said Avantis Parker’s testimony did not help prosecutors meet their burden in the case.

“Justice is the pursuit of truth,” Diallo said in her closing arguments. “And the truth is going to come from Avantis Parker?”

The acquittal of Terrance Parker and the hung jury on the murder and witness intimidation charges against Wimberly are just the latest twists and turns in a case that’s been full of them.

First, in April 2013, Avantis Parker’s girlfriend, Sophie Peak, testified Wimberly was the one who shot and killed Charles to make sure he didn’t testify at a Jan. 30, 2013, court hearing for the freeway shooting.

Four months later, Avantis Parker came to investigators and said Wimberly was never present at the crime scene. But, Avantis Parker alleged, Wimberly was the puppet master of a murder conspiracy that lasted weeks to make sure Charles wouldn’t testify.

Peak was charged with perjury and Avantis Parker was made the prosecution’s star witness. He testified — twice — that Terrance Parker pulled the trigger and Wimberly was the man behind the murder.

Mathews also pleaded guilty at one time to second-degree murder, but that plea was rescinded after it was found that the factual basis came on perjured testimony. He’s still facing murder charges in the case and had a pretrial hearing on Wednesday.

Wimberly is scheduled to be sentenced on the concealed weapons and being a felon in possession of a firearm charges on June 4, Diallo said. A pretrial date will be set up on the other charges.

Wimberly remains lodged in the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.